1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to processing of raw meat into a reduced fat meat having excellent functionality. More particularly, the invention provides fat-reduced uncooked meat from raw meat materials that traditionally are so high in fat content as to be unsuitable for use as a portion of raw meat which is heated to prepare a low-fat cooked meat product or as the meat ingredient of a low-fat meat-containing food product. Typical raw meat materials in this regard have fat contents of as high as about sixty percent by weight or above and usually no lower than about twenty weight percent. In accordance with the invention, this fat-containing raw meat material is processed into raw meat material which is highly functional and which has an exceptionally low fat content, not greater than ten percent and typically on the order of five percent by weight or lower. This provides a versatile low-fat raw meat material which is suitable for use as a finished product and which has the ability to be molded, extruded, and/or stuffed into a shape to provide finished food products and/or blended with non-meat ingredients in order to thereby prepare finished food products of which meat is a primary component.
2. Description of the Related Art
The level of fat included in diets is of concern in many channels, particularly with respect to meat products or foods that contain animal-originating meat components. Meat food products are available which fall into the generally low fat category. Often, it is considered satisfactory if the fat content of an uncooked raw meat supply is within a general magnitude on the order of about ten weight percent. While fat percentages of this general magnitude for raw meat materials represent a substantial step toward reducing the intake of fat for those who consume products made from this reduced-fat raw material, it would be beneficial to provide a highly functional fat-reduced meat raw material having a fat content of at least about one half of this magnitude.
At times, raw meat materials having lowered fat contents are made available by procedures which include specially trimming raw meat cuts. These lower fat meat materials are relatively expensive and are not readily available in volumes which would be suitable for extended use in mass-produced foods. These specially trimmed raw materials typically, for example, include cuts of meat which are denuded or hand-trimmed and/or prepared by techniques which are highly labor intensive.
It is, of course, well-known that meats can be processed, either on a batch or a continuous basis, without requiring hand trimming. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,177,080 describes a typical procedure and apparatus for processing a high fat meat supply into one that is of reduced fat content. Often, these types of procedures include cooking, grinding and centrifuging as a basic approach for separating a fat-rich phase from another phase having a lower fat content. The phase having a lower fat content typically contains lean fractions which had become denatured during processing, and the functionality of this phase is reduced substantially, rendering it unsuitable for use in many applications. Also, approaches such as these do not provide a functional, reduced fat meat having a fat percentage well below ten percent such as one on the order of five percent and below.